10-29-2008, 01:38 PM
I spent one summer working on steamboats here (Lake George for those of you in the area). One of my jobs as a deckhand was to paint the ships in preparation for the tourist season. A buddy of mine and I hopped onto the "paint raft" (which was essentially a pallet with some life vests strapped to the bottom), and started painting along the water line of the largest ship.
As we maneuvered around the stern, we had to push off the ship to go about 9 feet over to the pier. Unbeknownst to us, the little gap between the ship and the pier was acting as a wind tunnel, and we immediately got pushed about 30 feet off the end of the pier.
About 15 minutes later, we were greeted by the Sheriff's Department boat, who promptly towed us back to shore, where we were met by one of the pilots of the ship (who was the uncle of the guy I was stuck on the paint raft with), and he told them he had no idea who we were.
Fun times.
As we maneuvered around the stern, we had to push off the ship to go about 9 feet over to the pier. Unbeknownst to us, the little gap between the ship and the pier was acting as a wind tunnel, and we immediately got pushed about 30 feet off the end of the pier.
About 15 minutes later, we were greeted by the Sheriff's Department boat, who promptly towed us back to shore, where we were met by one of the pilots of the ship (who was the uncle of the guy I was stuck on the paint raft with), and he told them he had no idea who we were.
Fun times.